Rooney rage possibly opens the door for Owen

England qualified for their first European Championships since 2004 yesterday with a 2-2 draw against Montenegro, however Wayne Rooney’s red card for kicking out in the second half overshadowed the performance which now leaves questions over who should lead England’s attack next year in Poland and Ukraine.

Rooney will now be banned for the opening game of the Championships and it could be extended to three games should FIFA decide that it warrants more than a one game ban. Rooney’s disappointing sending off only added to the frustration in what was a disappointing evening for England in Montenegro.

Darren Bent and Ashley Young put England into what seemed an unassailable 2-0 lead, however a goal in the 45^th minute by the home side meant the second half was always going to tough in a hostile atmosphere. 

The visitors’ job become seemingly harder 17 minutes from time when Rooney unforgivingly lashed out with his foot before then being shown the red card by Wolfgang Stark.

So with a definite one game ban for Wayne Rooney, England boss Fabio Capello will now have to decide who will lead his sides’ front line next summer. Capello will of course take the hot head striker but with him missing the opening game, who will Capello turn to?

It looks likely that Darren Bent will take his place on the plane next summer alongside Rooney and Carroll but England will need more options. Bobby Zamora was on the bench last night though his troubles with injury in the last 12 months make him unreliable, while Stoke’s Peter Crouch could be too similar to Andy Carroll so may miss out.

Other contenders are likely to be another bench warmer last night; Danny Welbeck as well as Tottenham’s Jermaine Defoe could be on the plane. One name that refuses to go away is Manchester United striker Michael Owen who despite only starting a handful of games for United, 11 goals in 12 games shows that the 31 year old clearly has goal scoring form on his side.

Rooney in no uncertain terms let his country down last night and will be thankful that it didn’t cost England its place in the Championships next summer and he will have a lot of work to do next year to make up for last night’s mistake, although it may have just opened the door slightly for 31 year old Owen after it seemed the door had been firmly shut by Capello.

What strikers would you take to Euro 2012 next summer? Should Owen get his chance? As always let me know.